On A Mission
Matthew 10:1-42
May 16, 2004
Mission!
When I say that word, what is the first thought that comes to mind.
For most of us it is probably the idea of going to some foreign land to preach the Gospel.
Yet there are many different missions that we can be a part of.
For those in the military at one time the word mission invokes the thought of some field training exercise.
Then there are the missions that we fell unqualified for. I am currently on one of those missions. We are trying to fix up our house to sell it. Me being the handy man that I am we should be able to have it done within the next 10 years.
I looked up the word mission on the Webster Online dictionary and listen to what the word mission means according to Webster:
1. The act of the instance of sending.
2. A ministry commissioned by a religious organization to propagate its faith or carry on humanitarian work.
3. A body of persons sent to perform a perform a service or carry on an activity.
4. A specific task with which a person or a group is charged.
We, my friends are on a mission. Just before ascending into heaven Jesus told His disciple’s to go an preach. That message, and that charge, has been left for us as well.
However, that was not the first time Jesus sent His disciple’s out into the mission field.
Open up your Bibles to Matthew 10. We are going to be using the entire chapter 10 for our text this morning. However, instead of me reading it, we are going to use The Visual Bible this morning for our text.
Read The Text.
Jesus sent His disciples out on a mission. As we read this passage of Scripture there are some valuable lessons that we can learn as we accomplish the mission that Jesus has left for us.
1. The Mission’s Purpose.
The disciples had to know what it was that they were supposed to accomplish.
Look again at verses 5-8
These twelve Jesus sent out with the following instructions: "Do not go among the Gentiles or enter any town of the Samaritans. 6 Go rather to the lost sheep of Israel. 7 As you go, preach this message: `The kingdom of heaven is near.’ 8 Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out demons. Freely you have received, freely give.
A. They were sent to preach the coming of the Kingdom of Heaven.
Think of what the disciples could have spent their time preaching out against.
- The Roman Empire
- The Hypocrisy Of The Jewish Leaders
- The Need For Honest Tax Collectors
The list could go on and on.
You know the same is true of us. We are told to preach.
There are so many different things in which we could preach out against in our world today.
- The Hypocrisy Of Our Political Leaders.
- The Evils Of Abortion.
- The Wrongs Of Homosexual Marriage.
- The Issues Of Poverty.
However, I think that we would be best to concentrate on the one message that we should preach.
And that message is Jesus Christ.
You see, they preached that the Kingdom of Heaven was near. For us, the Kingdom is here and it is our job to preach that fact.
To learn some valuable lessons about this fact, all we have to do is to look at the life of Paul. Whenever Paul got a chance to preach, what did He preach? Jesus Christ crucified! Jesus Christ Buried! Jesus Christ Risen From The Dead.
Paul said this in Romans 1:16:
I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile.
I wonder what would happen if God’s people everywhere would take this task seriously. Don’t get me wrong, I am not saying that there is never a time in which we should not speak out against a certain issue. However, I do believe that our main message should always be the gospel message; because in the Gospel Message there is power to save.
The mission to preach belongs to every single one of us.
There is not one person in the room who has given their lives to Jesus Christ that does not have this responsibility to preach.
Behold, a team went forth to play a game of baseball.
Just as the umpire was saying, “Batter up,” the catcher for the home team arrived and took his place behind the plate. The center fielder didn’t show up at all but sent his regrets. The third baseman likewise failed to come to the game, having been up late the night before. The shortstop was present, but left his glove at home. Two of the substitute fielders were away on a weekend trip but said they were there in spirit.
The pitcher went to the mound and looked around for his teammates. But his heart was heavy, for their positions were empty. The game was announced, the visitors were in the stands, and there was nothing to do but pitch the ball and hope for the best. But in addition to pitching, he had to cover first and third base, as well as short and center field.
When the absent players heard that their team had lost, they were very upset. They held a meeting and decided to get a new pitcher.
Like a baseball team, the church can’t survive without everyone pulling their weight. The pitcher—the pastor—is important, but unless everyone else shows up and fields their position or gets a hit, the game will be lost.
The Bible never makes a distinction between professional ministers (clergy) and “ordinary Christians” (laity). Instead, everyone is a minister, each having different gifts and abilities. A baseball team can’t win with players who don’t play. Nor can a church with ministers who don’t minister.
People expect the preacher to preach, but when we all begin to preach Christ we will indeed change the world for the Gospel Message.
B. They were sent to heal. As they went about preaching the Gospel Message they were to heal those who needed.
Now, we must understand something here. These men were empowered by Jesus to heal. The Apostles and the people in which the Apostles laid their hands on had a power from the Holy Spirit to do some amazing things. The purpose for them using these powers were to prove that the message they were preaching was true.
Now, there are people who have been given special gifts by God. There are doctors, nurses and scientists alike who have made it their life long work to heal people. They are unable to heal in the same sense that they Apostles were able to, but they are gifted by God none-the-less.
We too are to be a people of healing. We may not be able to heal in the same sense that the Apostles were, but we can bring healing to a people that are hurting.
- Hurting From The Effects Of Sin.
- Hurting From Loneliness
- Hurting From Hopelessness
Everyone the disciples physically healed, eventually died. However, when we show people that the ultimate source of healing is found in the hope of eternity, we are doing more than healing them for a while, we are showing them that Christ can heal them forever.
C. Our salvation should be enough of a motivation for us to go out and make a difference.
Freely you have received, freely give.
The purpose of the mission was to preach and heal.
2. The Mission’s Problems.
The disciples were given the mission, but they were told about the problems that they were going to encounter.
A. People would not listen.
The disciples were told that there was going to be people who would not listen to the message that they had to preach.
The same is true for us today. There are people who won’t want to hear what we have to preach. That doesn’t mean that we are supposed to give up preaching. All that means is that we have to preach somewhere else.
Listen again to what verse 14 says. If anyone will not welcome you or listen to your words, shake the dust off your feet when you leave that town or home.
I know that it can be frustrating to do your best to reach someone for Jesus Christ, and for them to show no interest. There is something that we should all remember though.
If people rejected:
- God in the Old Testament
- Jesus in the New Testament
- The Apostles who were men full of the Holy Spirit and power
- Then people will reject us.
Not only will there be people who don’t want to listen to our message:
B. People will be combative.
From our text we see that the disciples were in danger because of the message they were going out to preach.
Listen again to what Matthew 10:17 – 20 says: Be on your guard against men; they will hand you over to the local councils and flog you in their synagogues. 18 On my account you will be brought before governors and kings as witnesses to them and to the Gentiles. 19 But when they arrest you, do not worry about what to say or how to say it. At that time you will be given what to say, 20 for it will not be you speaking, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you.
Jesus told them that they were going to encounter danger. And He promised them that they were going to be helped by the Spirit.
We may not face the same type of persecution that the disciples had to face, be we do face people who are combative to the message of Jesus Christ.
Do you want to know what would happen if all of us in this room took the mission of preaching Christ seriously? First of all, people would be won to Christ. Secondly, we will encounter opposition.
Why is that? Because Satan knows that there is power in the Gospel message. And when we preach lives are changed. When lives are changed there should be more people preaching.
Even though we may not face the daily dangers that the early Christians faced, the chance does exist.
We never know when someone is going to place a gun in our face and ask the question that was asked at Columbine High School.
No, we should not fear persecution.
C. Jesus told us what we should fear.
Look again at verses 28-30
Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell. 29 Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from the will of your Father. 30 And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. 31 So don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.
You see, God will protect us. No, that doesn’t mean that He will not let anything bad happen to us here on earth. What it means is that we are protected for eternity as we trust in Him.
We should not fear to persecutor. Persecution may leave its mark on us while we are here on earth. However, if we fail to accomplish our mission because we were afraid the consequences will last for eternity.
A few centuries before Christ, Alexander the Great conquered almost all of the known world with his military strength, cleverness, and diplomacy. One day Alexander and a small company of soldiers approached a strongly defended, walled city. Alexander, standing outside the walls, raised his voice, demanding to see the king. The king, approaching the battlements above the invading army, agreed to hear Alexander’s demands.
“Surrender to me immediately,” commanded Alexander.
The king laughed. “Why should I surrender to you?” he called down. “We have you far outnumbered. You are no threat to us!”
Alexander was ready to answer the challenge. “Allow me to demonstrate why you should surrender,” he replied. Alexander ordered his men to line up single file and start marching. He marched them straight toward a sheer cliff that dropped hundreds of feet to rocks below.
The king and his soldiers watched in shocked disbelief as, one by one, Alexander’s soldiers marched without hesitation right off the cliff to their deaths. After ten soldiers had died, Alexander ordered the rest of his men to stop and to return to his side.
The king and his soldiers surrendered on the spot to Alexander the Great.
That is the type of obedience and resolve that we must have. We will face problems in the mission field.
But what is the worst thing that can happen to us? We can lose this earthly life. What is the most likely thing that can happen to us? People may not listen or may try to stop us from preaching.
Preach and, well that leads us to our final point for the morning.
3. The Mission’s Promises!
Jesus gave them a mission, told them that they were going to face problems, and then He went on to give them some promises.
Listen again to 32-39 of our text:
"Whoever acknowledges me before men, I will also acknowledge him before my Father in heaven. But whoever disowns me before men, I will disown him before my Father in heaven. "Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to turn " `a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law-- a man’s enemies will be the members of his own household.’ "Anyone who loves his father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves his son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; 38 and anyone who does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. 39 Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.
A. If we preach Christ, Christ will acknowledge us before God.
B. The opposite of that is true.
C. The Message Will Cause Division.
D. The Dedication Will Not Go Unrewarded.
Invitation
